Copyright  1920 
by 

H.  W.  Johns-Manville  Co. 
New  York 


business  NOISE 

Its  Cost  and  Prevention 

E  whole  development  of  building 
construction  and  building  materials 
during  the  past  twenty-five  years  has 
been  in  the  direction  of  POOR  ACOUS¬ 
TICS  and  consequently  more  noisy 
offices.  This  is  particularly  noticeable 
in  the  evolution  of  the  modern  office 
building,  where  three  main  consider¬ 
ations,  demanded  by  public  safety  and  health,  have 
had  a  very  radical  influence  on  the  choice  of 
materials  and  the  mode  of  contruction  —  namely, 
Fire  Protection,  Sanitation  and  Dura¬ 
bility. 

This  demand  has  naturally  led  to  the  almost  ex¬ 
clusive  use  of  steel,  concrete,  tile  and  hard  plaster, 
with  a  minimum  of  wood  finish,  steel  often  being 
used  not  only  for  trim,  but  also  for  office  furniture. 

The  inevitable  result  has  been  an  unbearable  in¬ 
crease  in  unnecessary  noise,  confusion  and  nervous 
excitement,  which  has  had  a  marked  effect  on  the 
normal  efficiency  of  both  executives  and  office  work¬ 
ers.  This  condition  has  been  aggravated  by  modern 
practice  in  office  planning  which  favors  large,  open 
spaces,  because  they  afford  better  light  and  ventila¬ 
tion  and  facilitate  the  work  of  the  various  depart¬ 
ments  through  closer  contact.  The  drawback,  how¬ 
ever,  has  been  the  decided  loss  in  efficiency  which  in 
many  cases  outweighs  the  advantages  gained  under 
such  an  arrangement. 

Racket  from  typewriters,  adding  machines  and 
other  mechanical  appliances,  telephone  bells  and  con¬ 
versation  produces  wearing  nervous  fatigue,  dimin¬ 
ished  concentration,  decreased  efficiency,  multiplied 


l 


Federal  Reserve  Bank,  Transit  Dept.,  New  York  City. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


mistakes,  increased  expense,  and  errors  of  judgment 
that  hamper  the  executive  as  well  as  the  clerk. 

The  losses  due  to  such  conditions  are  not  theoreti¬ 
cal.  They  are  actual  and  apparent  and  can  be  easily 
checked  up.  Investigations  by  Welfare  Depart¬ 
ments  of  corporations  and  others  interested  in  scienti¬ 
fic  business  management  have  clearly  demonstrated 
the  huge  PREVENTABLE  waste  of  money  and 
energy  due  directly  to  poor  acoustics,  noise  and  the 
resulting  confusion  in  offices. 

The  Phenomenon  of  Reverberation 

Stop  for  a  moment  to  consider  the  physical  action 
of  noise  in  your  office.  Here  is  what  happens. 
Many  little  noises  arising  from  conversation,  dicta¬ 
tion,  typewriters,  adding  machines  and  mechanical 
office  devices,  and  many  other  sources,  none  of  which 
originates  much  disturbance  in  itself,  are  created  in 
your  office  every  minute  of  the  working  day. 

Because  the  walls  and  ceilings  are  made  of  such 
hard,  non-porous  materials  they  absorb  a  very  small 


2 


Armour  &  Co.,  General  Offices,  Union  Stock  Yards,  Chicago,  Ill. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


percentage  of  any  sound  striking  them  and  this 
means  that  any  given  individual  sound  must  be 
reflected  from  surface  to  surface  many  hundred  times 
before  its  energy  is  so  far  absorbed  that  it  becomes 
inaudible.  If,  during  the  several  seconds  of  time 
this  requires,  other  sounds  are  successively  generated, 
they,  too,  will  be  similarly  prolonged  and  will  over¬ 
lap  and  add  their  energy  to  the  first  sound  and  to 
each  other.  This  superposition  produces  an  ac¬ 
cumulated  mass  of  sound  many  times  more  intense 
or  loud  than  would  exist  if  each  component  sound 
were  absorbed  before  the  next  one  were  produced. 

The  phenomenon  is  known  as  reverberation.  In 
order  to  understand  it  better  it  may  be  likened  to 
the  diffusion  of  light  in  a  brilliantly  illuminated 
room.  If  the  walls  of  the  room  are  painted  white 
so  as  to  reflect  the  maximum  amount  of  light  and 
if  the  source  is  very  bright,  the  intensity  or  glare  of 
the  light  within  the  room  will  be  so  great  as  to  be 
uncomfortable  and  fatiguing  to  the  eye.  If,  how¬ 
ever,  a  neutral  tint  of  gray  or  buff  is  given  to  the 
interior  surfaces,  so  as  to  absorb  a  percentage  of  the 


3 


First  National  Bank,  Check  Dept.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


light,  the  intensity  is  greatly  reduced  and  the  eye 
is  thereby  much  relieved.  An  exactly  analagous 
action  takes  place  in  diminishing  the  reverberation 
of  sound  by  absorptive  treatment. 

The  effect  of  reverberation  upon  the  noise  of  type¬ 
writers,  adding  machines,  telephone  bells,  conversa¬ 
tion  and  all  of  the  ordinary  office  disturbances  as 
well  as  on  the  street  noises  entering  from  without,  is 
to  magnify  them  and  cause  a  din  that  is  fatal  to 
proper  concentration  and  nervous  repose. 

Actual  fatigue  of  the  nerves  is  engendered,  similar 
to  muscular  fatigue  after  physical  exercise.  This 
vitally  affects  the  well-being  and  efficiency  of  every 
worker  in  the  office,  from  executive  to  office  boy. 
It  causes  a  multiplication  of  errors  on  the  part  of 
clerks  and  prevents  concentration  and  clear  think¬ 
ing  on  the  part  of  managers  and  other  officials. 

All  this  means  loss  of  production  just  as  surely 
as  poor  lighting,  faulty  heating,  or  bad  ventilation. 
Business  organizations,  large  and  small,  learned 
long  ago  to  take  care  of  the  last  named  items,  but 
the  noise  factor,  which  is  equally  important,  has  been 


4 


United  States  Rubber  Co.,  General  Tire  Sales  Office,  New  York  City. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


neglected  in  a  great  many  cases — not  because  of  a 
lack  of  appreciation  of  the  discomforts  and  actual 
losses,  but  more  because  of  lack  of  knowledge  of  how 
easily  they  can  be  corrected. 

The  Action  of  Johns-Manville 
Acoustical  Correction 

The  remedy  is  simple — Johns-Manville  Acoustical 
Correction.  By  the  Johns-Manville  System  of 
Acoustical  Correction  this  noise  and  confusion  is 
eliminated  WITHOUT  CHANGING  THE  ARCHI¬ 
TECTURAL  APPEARANCE  of  the  rooms  and  it 
can  be  installed  WITHOUT  INTERFERENCE 
WITH  DAILY  ROUTINE.  By  the  Johns-Man¬ 
ville  System  of  Acoustical  Correction  the  sound 
absorbing  properties  of  a  sufficient  proportion  of  the 
interior  surfaces  of  any  given  room  are  radically 
increased  so  that  the  period  of  reverberation  of  every 
individual  sound  can  be  so  far  reduced  as  to  prevent 
overlapping  and  accumulation,  thus  reducing  the 
total  volume  of  noise  to  a  minimum. 


5 


/. 


John  W.  Ladd  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


In  rooms  so  treated,  dictation  can  be  given  almost 
in  a  whisper,  telephone  conversation  can  be  pitched 
in  the  lowest  key,  conference  can  be  carried  on  in  a 
quiet  undertone.  Noise,  bustle,  confusion,  excite¬ 
ment— all  those  enemies  of  constructive  thought 
and  highest  efficiency  are  eliminated. 

The  effect  produced  by  Johns-Manville  Acoustical 
Correction  is  remarkable.  It  produces  a  sense  of 
comfort  and  quiet  and  of  relaxed  nerve  tension  which 
is  hard  to  describe  in  words.  There  is  a  new  sensa¬ 
tion  to  be  found  in  entering  a  room  after  the  installa¬ 
tion  of  Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction.  It 
has  been  most  aptly  likened  to  the  sensation  of  relief 
experienced  when  one  emerges  from  a  noisy  tunnel 
onto  the  open  track.  The  office  assumes  a  mien  of 
order  and  dignity  always  impressive  to  the  visitor 
and  helpfully  restful  to  the  worker. 

Statistics  show  that  an  increase  in  efficiency  of 
three-quarters  of  one  percent  in  the  average  office 
will  pay  for  the  cost  of  Johns-Manville  Acoustical 
Correction  with  interest  in  five  years.  Many  office 
managers  claim  that  the  increased  personal  working 


6 


Irving  National  Bank,  Foreign  Dept.,  New  York  City. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


efficiency  of  their  employees  in  quiet  surroundings 
amounts  at  least  to  ten  or  fifteen  percent.  On  this 
conservative  estimate  the  quieting  treatment  will 
pay  for  itself  in  three  to  five  months.  The  time 
would  be  even  shorter  in  large  offices  with  many 
employees. 

How  These  Results  Are  Obtained 

The  work  of  the  Johns-Manville  Acoustical  En¬ 
gineers  in  your  office  is  marked  by  two  definite 
accomplishments:  The  noise  nuisance  is  corrected 
yet  the  architectural  appearance  of  your  office  is 
not  disturbed.  This  ideal  condition  is  brought 
about  by  applying  to  critical  surfaces,  usually  ceil¬ 
ings,  but  sometimes  walls  as  well,  a  sufficient  amount 
of  Johns-Manville  Akoustikos  Felt,  which  is  fastened 
securely  in  place  and  then  covered  with  an  absorptive 
membrane  which  gives  it  a  finished  surface. 

Johns-Manville  Akoustikos  Felt  has  been  de¬ 
veloped  particularly  for  the  purpose  of  acoustical 
correction  and  office  quieting.  It  has  the  highest 


7 


American  Can  Co.,  General  Offices,  Chicago,  Ill. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


possible  absorbing  power  and  at  the  same  time  is 
durable,  non-inflammable  and  free  from  attacks  of 
moths,  rodents  or  vermin. 

It  is  composed  of  selected  long  cattle  hair,  chemi¬ 
cally  treated,  burr  picked  to  remove  all  foreign  sub¬ 
stances,  such  as  bits  of  dried  flesh  and  hide,  steamed 
to  remove  animal  oil  and  then  felted  to  the  requisite 
density  and  porosity  to  give  the  proper  degree  of 
sound  absorption,  with  an  interlining  of  gauze  to 
give  added  tensile  strength. 

This  felt  is  applied  in  location,  extent  and  thickness 
in  an  amount  scientifically  determined  for  each  in¬ 
dividual  case,  while  the  membrane  used  as  a  cover¬ 
ing  for  the  felt  causes  the  treated  areas  to  blend 
with  surrounding  surfaces  in  such  a  way  as  to  be 
unnoticeable. 

The  Johns-Manville  Company  has  devoted  par¬ 
ticular  attention  to  developing  the  best  materials 
for  this  class  of  work,  as  well  as  the  technique  of 
their  installation.  The  scientific  methods  employed 
are  the  result  of  the  researches  of  the  late  Professor 
Wallace  C.  Sabine,  of  Harvard  University,  the  bene- 


8 


Procter  &  Gamble  Co.,  General  Offices  and  Treasury,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


fit  of  whose  advice  and  counsel  the  Johns-Manville 
Company  enjoyed  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  Scope  of  Johns-Manville  System  of 
Acoustical  Correction 

The  comfort,  profit  and  satisfaction  of  Johns- 
Manville  Acoustical  Correction  is  not  confined  to 
commercial  offices.  It  is  equally  effective  in  the 
elimination  of  unnecessary  and  disturbing  sounds, 
reverberation,  echoes  and  poor  acoustics  in  Banks, 
Restaurants,  Churches,  Theatres,  Schools,  Colleges, 
Hospitals,  Gymnasiums,  Indoor  Swimming  Pools, 
Rifle  Ranges,  Clubs,  Hotels,  Court  Rooms,  Legis¬ 
lative  Chambers,  in  fact,  in  any  place  where  acous¬ 
tical  difficulties  or  the  noise  nuisance  are  experienced. 
The  scientific  nature  of  this  treatment  makes  it 
possible  to  plan  for  correcting  acoustical  conditions 
even  in  advance  of  the  construction  of  a  new  building. 

Since  the  Johns-Manville  Company  first  under¬ 
took  this  class  of  work  in  1911,  it  has  installed  acous¬ 
tical  treatment  in  hundreds  of  institutions,  some  of 


9 


Christie,  Brown  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  Toronto,  Canada. 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  Installed. 


which  are  shown  in  this  book  under  “A  Few  Repre¬ 
sentative  Installations  of  Johns-Manville  Acoustical 
Correction/'  on  the  last  page. 


The  Answer  to  Your 
Noise  Problem 

The  toll  that  noise  takes  is  a  considerable  drain  on 
your  resources— physical,  nervous  and  financial. 
It  goes  on  all  day  long,  year  after  year  and  its  total 
is  huge,  but  because  it  takes  only  a  bit  at  a  time  it 
passes  unnoticed.  While  the  business  man  of  to¬ 
day  has  not  the  time  to  make  a  study  of  reverbera¬ 
tion,  echoes,  resonance  and  interference,  he  does 
want  to  know  “What  is  the  easiest,  quickest  and  best 
way  for  me  to  eliminate  confusing  noises  and  loss  of 
efficiency  in  my  office?" 

The  answer  is — Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correc¬ 
tion.  A  request  made  to  the  nearest  Johns-Manville 
branch  will  bring  you  engineering  service  and  full 
information  concerning  your  particular  problem. 


10 


A  Few  Testimonial  Letters 


What  Others  Think  of  Johns-Manville 
Acoustical  Correction 

The  few  testimonial  letters  on  this  and  the  fol¬ 
lowing  page  show  the  enthusiastic  approval  of  those 
who  have  so  greatly  benefited  by  the  installation  of 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction. 

They  also  indicate  the  practically  unlimited  scope 
of  the  field  in  which  this  scientific  corrective  treat¬ 
ment  can  be  used  in  the  solution  of  acoustical  diffi¬ 
culties  and  the  elimination  of  the  costly  noise  nui¬ 
sance.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  letters  are  repre¬ 
sentative  of  practically  every  phase  of  endeavor — 
banking,  mercantile,  automotive,  theatrical,  legal 
and  insurance. 


11 


Ur.  L.  C.  Hart,  Mamgir  Aooustlosl  Department, 

H.  ».  Johne-Manvllls  Company, 

W1 ohlgan  Avenus  &  10th  Street, 

Dear  Sir: 

Inaeoiuoh  as  you  have  applied  your  eyateo  of  aoouetloal 
oorrectlon  and  Office  quieting  treatment  to  one  of  our  larger 
offloee  and  It  hae  proven  highly  euooeeaful,  I  am  very  glad  to 
take  oooaelon  to  write  you  as  to  our  extreme  eatlofootion  In 
the  result#* 

for  some  reason  or  other,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the 
eonetruotlon  and  the  peculiar  shape  of  the  room,  ae  well  as  the 
large  amount  of  stenographic  work  done  In  It,  the  nolBe  and  re¬ 
verberation  were  almost  unbearable  and  very  distracting  to  the 
employeee  engaged  In  the  room  in  question.  We  had  heard  of  your 
treatment  and  made  a  thorough  Investigation  of  1 t  as  well  as 
that  of  one  or  two  other  companies.  lour  success  was  so  apparent 
In  oertaln  work  whloh  you  had  done  In  Chicago  and  hew  jork  which 
the  writer  had  the  privilege  of  inspecting  that  we  decided  to 
give  your  oompany  the  opportunity  of  oorreotlng  conditions  In 
our  offloe. 

The  results  were  evon  better  than  we  had  antlolpated 
for  the  noise  and  reverberation  have  been.  In  a  large  part, 
eliminated  with  the  result  that  the  aoouetio  features  seem  to 
hare  a  soothing  effeot  to  one  In  the  room.  While  there  Is  etlll 
some  noise,  of  course.  In  the  room  Its  displeasing  quality  hae 
been  removed  and  It  has  not  that  sharpness  which  Is  so  trying 
upon  the  nerves.  We  oan  highly  reoommend  your  work  to  any  one 
who  has  the  same  condition  In  their  offices  tnat  we  have  prior 
to  your  treatment. 


haT#  llvlnB  in  our  banking 
room  a  matter  of  several  months  slnoe  vou  treated 
the  oeillnge  of  the  main  big  room  and  the  aloove. 
The  improvement  ie  very  marked,  and  oepeolally  so 

v^Jh#-!l00T#*v  ar*  dolD«  our  worlc  now  in  oom- 
fort,  whereas  before  the  oorreotion  w«»  mads  we 
were  In  misery. 

Tours  truly. 


Yours  very  truly,  j? 

Ssorstary  and  Actuary, 


A  Few  Testimonial  Letters 


Representative  Installations 

The  installations  on  the  next  page  by  no  means 
show  the  many  hundreds  of  satisfactory  installa¬ 
tions  of  Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction  in  the 
various  sections  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

A  request  sent  to  the  nearest  Johns-Manville 
Branch,  a  list  of  which  is  shown  on  the  back  cover, 
will  bring  a  pamphlet  containing  a  complete  list  and 
permit  a  ready  reference  to  those  installations  in 
your  city  or  its  immediate  vicinity. 


12 


A  Few  Representative  Installations  of 
Johns-Manville  Acoustical  Correction 


NEW  ENGLAND  STATES* 

A.  C.  Lawrence  Leather  Co.,  Boston, 
Mass. 

City  National  Bank,  Danbury,  Conn. 

First  National  Bank,  Boston,  Mass. 

Merchants  National  Bank,  Worcester, 
Mass. 

New  Haven  Bank,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Old  Colony  Trust  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Standard  Oil  Co.,  E.  Providence,  R.  I. 

Submarine  Signal  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Norton  Co.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

MIDDLE  ATLANTIC  STATES 

American  Can  Company,  New  York 
City  and  Chicago. 

Beechnut  Packing  Co.,  Canajoharie, 
N.  Y. 

Bullard  Machine  Tool  Co.,  Bridge¬ 
port,  Conn. 

Chase  National  Bank,  New  York  City. 

Dining  Room,  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Federal  Reserve  Bank,  New  York 
City,  Buffalo,  Atlanta,  Pittsburgh, 
Dallas  and  Helena,  Mont. 

General  Electric  Co.,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y. 

Guaranty  Trust  Co.,  New  York  City. 

International  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  New  York 
City,  Headquarters. 

Irving  National  Bank,  New  York 
City. 

Lee,  Higginson  &  Co.,  New  York  City. 

Link  Belt  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

New  York  Butchers’  Dressed  Meat 
Co.,  New  York  City. 

Pennsylvania  Rubber  Co.,  Jeannette, 
Pa. 

Remington  Typewriter  Co.,  New 
York  City. 

U.  S.  Rubber  Co.,  New  York  City. 

Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.,  New 
York  City,  Chicago,  Cleveland, 
and  Detroit. 

Worthington  Pump  &  Machinery 
Corp.,  New  York  City. 


CENTRAL  STATES 

A.  Krolik  &  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Armour  &  Co.,  New  York,  Chicago, 
St.  Paul,  Omaha,  St.  Louis,  and 
Kansas  City.  . 

Farwell,  Ozmun,  Kirk  &  Co.,  St. 
Paul,  Minn. 

First  Wisconsin  National  Bank,  Mil¬ 
waukee,  Wis. 

Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Co.,  Akron, 
Ohio. 

First  National  Bank,  Mobile,  Ala. 

Harris  Trust  &  Savings  Co.,  Chicago, 
Ill. 

Herring  Motor  Co.,  Des  Moines,  la. 

J.  T.  Ryerson  &  Son,  Chicago,  Ill. 

John  W.  Ladd,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Ludowici-Celsdon  Co.,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Mansfield  Sheet  &  Tin  Plate  Co., 
Mansfield,  Ohio. 

Merchants  National  Bank,  St.  Paul, 
Minn. 

Pompeian  Manufacturing  Co.,  Cleve¬ 
land,  Ohio. 

Procter  &  Gamble  Co.,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

Southwestern  National  Bank  of  Com¬ 
merce,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

WESTERN  STATES 

Bank  of  California,  Seattle,  Wash. 

California  Packing  Association,  San 
Francisco,  Calif. 

Colorado  Packing  &  Provision  Co., 
Denver,  Colo. 

First  National  Bank,  El  Paso,  Tex. 

Lunch  Room,  Adolphus  Hotel,  Dal¬ 
las,  Tex. 

Sperry  Flour  Mills  Co.,  Tacoma, 
Wash. 

Christie,  Brown  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  Toronto, 
Ont. 


AVERY 

LIBRARY 


•Arbitrary  geographical  subdivisions 


JOHNS -MANVILLE 

Incorporated 

Executive  Offices :  NEW  YORK 


Akron 

Albany 

Atlanta 

Baltimore 

Birmingham 

Boston 

Buffalo 

Canton 

Chicago 

Cincinnati 

Cleveland 

Columbus 

Dallas 

Dayton 

Denver 

Des  Moines 

Detroit 

Duluth 

El  Paso 


Erie 

Great  Falls 

Houghton 

Houston 

Indianapolis 

Kansas  City 

Los  Angeles 

Louisville 

Memphis 

Milwaukee 

Minneapolis 

Nashville 

Newark  * 

New  Orleans 

Omaha 

Philadelphia 

Pittsburgh 

Portland 

Rochester 


Sacramento 

Saginaw 

St.  Louis 

St.  Paul 

Salt  Lake  City 

San  Diego 

San  Francisco 

Seattle 

Stockton 

Syracuse 

Tacoma 

Toledo 

Tulsa 

Washington 
W  ilkes-Barre 
Youngstown 
Havana,  Cuba 


CANADIAN  JOHNS-MANVILLE  CO., 


Hamilton 

Toronto 


London 

Vancouver 


Montreal 

Winnipeg 


LIMITED 

Ottawa 

Windsor 


Form  B-71 — ao-11 


